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Friday, November 21, 2014

I May Or May Not Have Accidentally Stolen Something Kinda Large

So…..I accidentally stole something kind of large recently.

I swear it was accidental.

Here let me explain. Remember the dishwasher that when
bought, just happen to come with a date from the appliance guy who we referred
to as Piano Man? Well if you remember him then you must remember how fabulously
things ended with him; in a screaming match on the phone while he called me a
bitch and I hung up on him.

Well I’m not about to let a little boy drama get in between me and what
I consider to be a very necessary appliance, so I didn’t waste any time
contacting the store.

But, let’s just say that Piano Man must have spread the word about what a bitch I was because the response I got was less than friendly.

Basically they didn’t care.

Yea, that’s not really gonna fly with me.

I called the
corporate headquarters, explained that the dishwasher wasn’t working, that the manager refused to replace it, and they got
the store manager on the phone with us in a three way call. Only after the corporate office representative gave the manager a passive aggressive reminder of their company policy did the he agree to send a technician out to
look at it.

A few days later a representative, not from the store but
from the dishwasher manufacturer, showed up, took a look at it, and without doing so much
as opening and closing the door, deemed it broken and unfixable.

The next day I called the store and told the less than friendly manager what the
representative had said. He then told
me that my options were to either keep it (um no) or return it (duh), but if I
returned it there would be an $80 pick-up fee, a restocking fee (restock something
broken?) and then an additional $80 delivery charge for the replacement. He also informed me that the stellar deal Piano Man had given me would not apply since I would technically be returning the broken appliance and then buying a new one.

So basically it would cost my about $300 to replace the brand new broken appliance.

I talked with him at great lengths, explained the very valid points that I had paid for a working appliance, I had not gotten one,
and it was up to their company to provide me with one. I explained to him that this was also costing me lost wages while I was taking time out of my work day to deal with this and that I shouldn’t have
to jump through hoops to get what I purchased; a working appliance. I also read to him, word for word, the warranty policy that they had made me sign, a policy that stated I was well within the time limit for a replacement appliance.

He did not care.

I filed a complaint with the company headquarters and then called the
credit card company to put in a dispute on the transaction. The credit card
company called the appliance store to get their version of the story and then called me back saying they would refund me the money but I would have to let the store
pick up the appliance (sure no problem, what the hell do I want with a broken
and unfixable dishwasher?)

The credit card company refunded my money that day. Two
days later I received a $50 gift card in the mail from the appliance store's corporate
office apologizing for the inconvenience but stating that the store has the right to make the final decision on returns.

Then low and behold, a couple days later when I tried the dishwasher for the 1800th time, it started working just fine.

It's now been three and a half months and no one has ever contacted me about picking up the previously-broken-but-now-is-not dishwasher, that I was refunded for, and that ended up coming with a $50 gift card from the corporate office.

Is that stealing?

Oops.

I honestly have felt a little guilty about it. Not guilty enough
to call the store and remind them that I still have it of course, but you know, a tiny bit guilty.

You mentioned you had a grant to pay for the dishwasher (hence the reason the whole Piano Man thing happened) so I'm assuming the credit card charge was what you had paid to fix it? If so that's definitely not stealing. Either way at this point, you'll be fine. And they GAVE you the gift card, I hope you weren't afraid to use it! (If you haven't, hope you save it for a rainy, broken appliance day :D)

Best of all, it provided some closure. Now you have a GREAT story to tell. "See this dishwasher? Let me tell you about how I got it..."

For the grant I had to provide proof of my situation (bank records, legal documents, etc, and have two people confirm/recommend me) and then the funds for the dishwasher were granted in the form of a check made out to me. So I put the check in the bank and charged the dishwasher to a credit card, and then paid the charge off with the money in the bank.

I wasn't expecting a refund and I wasn't sure if they were going to come and take the dishwasher back so I just left the money alone in case I needed to buy another one. Now that I'm feeling a little more confident that they aren't coming back for it, I'm going to use the money to get a few things repaired that I can't do myself since that is the grant foundation's mission. I wouldn't feel right about using it for anything else. :)

I agree with SouthernQuilter. You were given the grant money as a mom in need to purchase a specific item: the dishwasher. Now you have a working dishwasher + a full refund for the dishwasher + a $50 dollar gift card. You were issued the refund on the basis that the dishwasher was irreparably broken. It's not right to keep the refund money when you now have a working dishwasher.

I did let the grant foundation know. I had signed something when I accepted the grant saying they could use my story in their media campaigns so when all this happened I contacted them immediatly and asked what they wanted me to do. They told me that based on the documentation I had provided that I qualified for a number of their other grants (they provide grants in a number of different single mom categories such as car repair, mortgage assistance, daycare assistance, medical bills, etc) and since I was "honest enough to email them, we trust that you will use it for something that we would approve of." Well my washer is 10+ years old and my fridge 8+, and my furnace is original to the house, so I'm just going to set the money aside for now so that I don't get into the same prediciment that I was in a few months back when I didn't have the money to repair or replace something.

I'm always open to people asking questions, but sometimes it's nice to ask before you judge someone.

I don't think they were judging. You were pretty specific about most other aspects of the transaction and never mentioned that. They just offered another option, which the post didn't make apparent had already been explored. Saying "it's not right" isn't judging. It's making a statement. May be opinion rather than fact, but they haven't been rude or accused you of anything.

I agree with the comments above me, it's not stealing if they screwed up.

I would have called the manager and told him that you didn't mean to lead on Piano Man, it's just that you have kids and you can't have a drug addict in your life ... but that's just because I'm vindictive when some lying asshole tries to make life difficult for me.

Haha! Eh, let Piano Man keep whatever he can in life, he needs all the help he can get! Plus, he knows where I live and now I that I know he has a temper, it's probably not wise of me to make him any angrier lol!

I love how you seem to be able to read well enough to type, but not well enough to comprehend. She said that she contacted the grant organization and they told her that since the money had already been granted out to keep it for another home expense. That's not stealing you moron.

Me Defined

My husband said he was going to the store... and never came back. It's been a crazy life that's left me functional enough to survive yet dysfunctional enough to make me funny. I'm living my life devoid of most social graces while single parenting two young children, and I absolutely love it....most days.

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